Ellis Yan isn’t worried about the belt-tightening and cost-cutting that accompanies an economic downturn. In fact, he says Technical Consumer Products Inc. is ready for the challenge.
“That’s the nature of the business we’re in,” he says. “We conserve. In other words, we save. We make things more efficient, more effective.”
TCP Inc. manufactures nearly 1.5 million compact fluorescent lamps every day, which accounts for 70 percent of the market for energy-efficient light bulbs. Customer reaction to TCP’s innovative energy-efficient products, like the popular SpringLamp, has led to massive revenue growth — from $71 million in 2003 to $319 million in 2007. The future certainly looked bright.
However, Yan wasn’t satisfied. The founder and CEO of TCP says his company has been riding high for the last five years, as the worldwide focus on reducing energy costs provided a wave of growth. TCP’s CFL bulbs last longer and use less energy than the incandescent bulbs that have been the standard for consumers since electricity was invented. Demand for the energy-efficient bulbs grew, and soon TCP’s products could be found under several brand names at retailers like Wal-Mart and The Home Depot.
The success TCP enjoyed during the “green revolution” made it appear as if all was well, but Yan knew there was plenty of room for improvement. For all the emphasis on efficiency in the design of TCP’s products, there were inefficiencies throughout the company’s operations. Yan knew the company could do even better if he could find a way to tame its wild growth.
“You must control the growth,” he says. “Because when you control the growth, you also pull back your wildness. The entrepreneurs, they have this wildness — they create these wild ideas.”
Yan’s goal is to balance the wild growth and innovation that helped the company become an industry leader with the lean, refined processes of efficient corporations.
“I go out to study other companies; I come back and drive people nuts here,” he says.
He invests a tremendous amount of effort, resources and money into studying new technology and light sources, and that research lays the groundwork for TCP’s engineers to create the next innovative idea.
“In order to be the leader, you have to create the market,” he says. “You already have the market, but you create the next level of the market. You lead, and you have people follow you. That’s how you create growth.”
But the growth needs to be controlled.
“We must have discipline,” Yan says. “If you look at all the successful companies, they are extremely disciplined. They may not have the best innovation, but they are the best successful companies. I’m in between now. I want to (be) the most innovative but be the most successful company.”
